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<\/p>\nTwo book festivals. One weekend. Has a new East Coast-West Coast rivalry emerged?<\/p>\n
The L.A. Times will host its annual book festival this weekend, the same time BookCon launches in New York City. Is there room enough for both?<\/p>\n
This weekend, an estimated 160,000 people will pour into the USC campus to attend the annual L.A. Times Festival of Books.<\/p>\n
At the same time in New York City, some 20,000 people will gather at the Javits Convention Center in Hell\u2019s Kitchen for BookCon, a tradition that dates back to 2014\u2014and typically takes place in late spring.<\/p>\n
Is this the beginning of a classic bicoastal rivalry? Are there enough authors to go around?<\/p>\n
As BookCon marketing manager Fallon Prinzivalli tells it, the event landed on this weekend simply because it was \u201cthe closest that we could get\u201d to the traditional late May\/early June slot.<\/p>\n
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She also said tickets for BookCon sold out within hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew we had an audience for it,\u201d she told LAist. \u201cBut I do think the speed at which we sold out was very surprising, even to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The L.A. Times festival, composed of outdoor and indoor events, was launched in 1996. <\/p>\n
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Courtesy Los Angeles Times Festival of Books<\/p>\n
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Mattie Schaffer, the driving force behind the L.A. Times\u2019 festival, said she\u2019s not worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think BookCon is such a different event,\u201d she told LAist. \u201cThere’s obviously a little bit of crossover in audience and authors, but I think there’s enough room for multiple literary events. I kind of see it as a sign of how vibrant the book world is. It’s giving opportunity for folks on both coasts to celebrate reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
What book lovers can expect \u00a0<\/p>\n
On top of panels, workshops and the chance to have their books signed by their favorite writers, book lovers in NYC can expect \u201c\u200aimmersive, fully built sets,\u201d Prinzivalli said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople love a photo opportunity,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd, obviously, with the rise of TikTok and Instagram prioritizing reels, video content is also really important. So we want to provide those areas for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The New York event will also feature book swaps, where readers can find texts with little notes from their former owners. At Indie Alley, they\u2019ll have a chance to check out work by independent authors.<\/p>\n
The L.A. Times event will also feature author panels, local booksellers and the chance to learn from the newsroom\u2019s journalists. Outdoor events will be free to the public. Indoor events will require buying tickets.<\/p>\n
How to attend the LA Times Festival of Books<\/p>\n
Date: April 18 to 19, 2026Location: University of Southern California<\/a>Good to know: There are several parking garages around the USC campus.Schedule: Here’s the line-up.<\/a>Bonus: LAist’s Education Team and others will be at the Festival of Books all weekend. Come find us in the YA section or near Bovard Auditorium!<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, we’re really leaning into podcasts and audio books,\u201d Schaffer said. \u201cAs people continue to listen more and more to books and podcasts on their phones, we’re trying to meet them where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not known how many authors were invited to both events, but despite a lack of public competitiveness between organizers, some authors have had to make a choice. And an LAist review of each guest list revealed little overlap among the scores of panelists, save for about half a dozen writers.<\/p>\n Julia Whelan\u2019s Coachella\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Julia Whelan is one of the few panelists at both events\u2014a renowned author, screenwriter, actor and audiobook narrator.<\/p>\n Book festivals are her Coachella, she said. \u201cYou can just go meander from rockstar to rockstar to rockstar.\u201d<\/p>\n Whelan\u2014whose debut novel, \u201cMy Oxford Year,\u201d is now a movie on Netflix\u2014will start her weekend at USC with an 11 a.m. panel titled \u201cMasters of the Mic: The Narrators Defining the Sound of Modern Storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n After that, she\u2019ll take a red eye flight to New York, where she\u2019ll be part of a panel titled \u201cNarrating Blockbuster Audiobooks.\u201d<\/p>\n What should you read next? Julia Whelan has a rec<\/p>\n When asked to recommend a book for LAist readers and listeners, Whelan brought up Emma Brodie\u2019s “Into the Blue: A Love Story,”<\/a> a decades-long romance that starts off at a video rental shop in 2000.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s one of those genre straddlers,\u201d Whelan said. \u201c\u200aI loved it fiercely.\u201d<\/p>\n
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